Behind The Scenes: Our Wedding Music

Photo by Freemark Photography.

You know, I was bracing myself for all sorts of questions about the wedding while I was engaged. I knew I'd be asked to show off the ring, indulge curiosities about our wedding plans, and what date we'd picked... but one question came up about a million times more than any other: Who's DJing YOUR wedding?!

I'll be honest with you: picking our wedding DJ was easy. I had two in mind from the start: DJ Thomas Culture and Newley Sound, who are Edmonton wedding DJs that I refer to whenever I receive an enquiry for a date I'm already booked for. (I also refer to DJ TK Ohhh, but he's my brother, and I didn't want him to have to work at my wedding!)

Ultimately, we knew that Krista and Devin of Newley Sound would be perfect for us, as we have eclectic tastes, and would be hosting family and friends with a wide variety of ages and musical tastes. We also had a number of geeky/silly requests and I knew they wouldn't judge me as a fellow DJ for having "uncool" tastes... I knew that they love people and music, and would just "get" us. There's nothing better than knowing you will be joined on your wedding day with people who get you.

The Music

As a wedding DJ, of course, I had a million songs that I wanted to include in our wedding day. Yes, at so many of your weddings, I find a song or two that speaks to my own love story, and I had compiled quite a list of songs I would have loved to include in our wedding.

The dilemma? I am a firm believer in using music to create a unique atmosphere at your wedding. Sadly, when you go that route, you choose music based on the sound of each song and the feeling it evokes, or the atmosphere it will create - not based on its meaning or importance to you. You can usually include a number of your favourites, but to build a particular atmosphere, you will likely have to avoid some songs that don't quite fit, regardless of how important they are to you.

In the end, I decided that meaning, nostalgia and what's close to our heart was the most important thing when it came to choosing our wedding music. Of course, songs were placed where they were most appropriate throughout the day - softer, more romantic music was placed before the ceremony, saving the more upbeat and fun music for our extended cocktail hour.

Without further ado, here's the music we chose for our wedding day. I hope you find a new favourite song or two!

Photo by Freemark Photography.

Prelude

This is the music that was playing in the church as our guests arrived and found their seats.
I Will Be There - Odessa (iTunes / Amazon)
Love and Affection - Matt White (iTunes / Amazon)
Rest Of My Life - Holley Maher (iTunes)
Shelter - Ray LaMontagne (iTunes / Amazon)
The Dreamer - Tallest Man On Earth (iTunes / Amazon)
Hold You In My Arms - Ray LaMontagne (iTunes / Amazon)
Evolve - Bosc (iTunes / Amazon)
Silver Moon - Roo Panes (iTunes / Amazon)
First Day Of My Life - Bright Eyes (iTunes / Amazon)
Lifting The Sea - The Hunts (iTunes / Amazon)
The Thief - Brooke Fraser (iTunes / Amazon)
A Thousand Years - Christina Perri (iTunes / Amazon)

Ceremony

Our faith is very important to us, and was central to our wedding ceremony. We had Sauvé, who is an absolute treasure, lead a hymn near the beginning of the ceremony. This was a last-minute addition, and one I was so glad we made. I highly recommend Sauvé as a vocalist for any wedding - she's wonderfully talented, and just a delight to be around.
Processional: Come and Listen - David Crowder (iTunes / Amazon)
Hymn: In Christ Alone - A modern hymn, performed live by Sauvé
Signing of the Register: By and By - Brett Dennen (iTunes / Amazon)
Recessional: Custom instrumental mix of Downtown - Macklemore (Mixed by me)

Photo by Freemark Photography.

Cocktails

For cocktail music, we wanted a good mix of music that was upbeat and fun and would get people in the mood to dance and celebrate. Also - on a day as special as our wedding, I simply wanted to hear our favourites. This included some oldies and motown, a bit of Rancid for me, some Bastille for Ryan, and a few songs I knew my bridesmaids would love. These are some of the highlights, which I think work great for any wedding cocktail hour. 

Broken Machine - Zowie (iTunes / Amazon)
Close to Me - The Cure (iTunes / Amazon)
Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles (iTunes / Amazon)
Last Night - Strokes (iTunes / Amazon)
Hold On - Tim Armstrong (iTunes / Amazon)
You're My Best Friend - Queen (iTunes / Amazon)
Higher and Higher - Jackie Wilson (iTunes / Amazon)
Something's Got a Hold On Me - Etta James (iTunes / Amazon)
Closer - Tegan & Sara (iTunes / Amazon)
Pompeii - Bastille (iTunes / Amazon)
Book Club - Arkells (iTunes / Amazon)
Twist, Twist, Senora - Gary US Bonds (iTunes / Amazon)
Come and Get Your Love - Redbone (iTunes / Amazon)
Want You to Want Me - Jason Derulo (iTunes / Amazon)
Diane Young - Vampire Weekend (iTunes / Amazon)
Corazon De Oro - Rancid (Amazon)
Dreaming - Blondie (iTunes / Amazon)
Your Love (All that I'm Missing) - JD McPherson (iTunes / Amazon)
Happy - C2C (iTunes / Amazon)
Just What I Needed - The Cars (iTunes / Amazon)

Grand Entrance

For our Grand Entrance, we chose a song that we fell in love with while road tripping through New Zealand shortly after we started dating.
Summer Dress - The Highs (iTunes / Amazon)

Cake Cutting

We didn't have a traditional wedding cake, but I enlisted my youngest brother to help me surprise Ryan with a hamburger cake. Ryan had surprised me with the same cake a few years ago, because when I worked with teenagers, a bunch of them nicknamed me "Stace-burger." It was an affectionate nickname, I swear. I picked this song from The Karate Kid to go along with the surprise because it's a favourite for us to sing to each other in over-the-top power ballad style.
You're The Best Around - Joe Esposito (iTunes / Amazon)

Photo by Adam Gaumont

First Dance

Let It Be Me - Ray LaMontagne (iTunes / Amazon)

Father Daughter and Mother Son Dance

We started the Father Daughter dance with just my dad and I, and then Ryan joined in with his mom about a minute into the song. 

Wildflowers - Tom Petty (iTunes / Amazon)

Our Awesome DJs and Dance Floor Music

We didn't give Newley Sound too many requests for the dance floor, since I trusted them to do a great job, and I wanted them to have the freedom to go with the flow of the dance floor. I did request a couple slow songs that were important to Ryan and I, but didn't make it into the ceremony. There were also a few guilty pleasure requests that I knew some of my girlfriends were going to just love, and a song or two that I knew would get my family out of their seats and onto the dance floor.

Krista and Devin did an awesome job, reading the crowd and playing a little bit of something for everyone. It is so, so sweet to be on the receiving end of new memories created on the dance floor. I never would have requested it myself, but now, every time I hear Hand Clap by Fitz and the Tantrums, it takes me back to dancing with my mom and brothers on my wedding day. I remember the dance floor filling, when even our grandparents got up to dance to Callin' Baton Rouge. We had played a number of classic New Zealand hip hop songs, which me and my girlfriends from New Zealand collectively lost our cool over. I don't know if it was the DJ's idea or someone else's, but it was decided that the kiwi girls had to learn something Canadian, so The Last Saskatchewan Pirate was played, and everyone had a blast with it.

The night ended with everyone who made it to 1am, including my mom, the bartender, friends from around the globe, and my new husband and I, in a circle, dancing to Backstreet's Back. It. was. perfect.

Above images by Adam Gaumont .